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REUGIONl  ET  ARTIBUS 


Jiunm  Olnlbg? 


CINCINNATI,  OHIO 


PROPOSED  PLANS  OF  NEW  BUILDINGS 
IN  AVONDALE 


1840 


SUGGESTIONS  WELCOME 


1915 


N!AR  ’S  '- 


‘R<Et4ioeffF^7EJ55, 


The  following  illustrations  exhibit  the  General  and 
Tentative  Plan  for  the  development  of  St.  Xavier  College. 
The  several  buildings  will  be  erected  in  the  course  of  time. 
As  the  plans  are  not  final,  suggestions  are  welcome. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/greaterstxaviercOOstxa 


LOOKING  WEST -VIEW  FROM  SITE  OF  PROPOSED  COLLEGE  BUILDING 


THE  YEAR  1915  IS  THE  DIAMOND  JUBILEE  YEAR  OF  ST.  XAVIER  COLLEGE. 


^cy^|AST  YEAR  the  St.  Xavier  Diamond  Jubilee  Fund  Committee  addressed  an  invitation  to  all 
^ the  alumni  and  friends  of  the  college  to  present  a substantial  testimonial  of  their  loyalty  to 
5^^  their  Alma  Mater  on  the  occasion  of  her  Diamond  Jubilee.  This  testimonial,  it  was  stated, 
would  be  used  towards  cancelling  the  debt,  or  for  erecting  new  buildings  in  Avondale,  or  for 
the  founding  of  scholarships. 


The  Committee  wishes  to  express  most  cordial  thanks  to  all  those  who  have  generously  contributed 
or  promised  their  donations  and  earnestly  requests  all  the  friends  of  the  college  to  be  mindful  of  her  progress 
and  her  needs.  Whilst  every  donor  may  specify  his  donation  for  any  one  of  the  three  said  purposes,  or 
any  other  particular  need  or  building  as  chapel,  assembly  hall,  faculty  building,  dormitory,  observatory, 
seismograph  and  equipment,  St.  Xavier  College,  through  the  Rev.  Rector  expressing  his  sincere  tl.anks 
for  the  energetic  work  of  the  Committee,  has  decided  that  all  the  funds  so  far  deposited  or  to  be  deposited, 
without  specification,  shall  be  used  for  the  erection  of  the  new  College  Building  in  Avondale. 


This  College  Building  (estimated  cost  $200,000)  is  necessary  in  the  first  place.  As  described  in  the 
plans,  half  of  this  building  would  be  used  at  once  for  class  rooms,  study  hall  and  science  lecture  and 
laboratory  rooms.  The  other  half  would  serve  as  Faculty  Building,  to  be  converted  into  class  rooms, 
whenever  a separate  faculty  building  can  be  erected.  The  middle  wing  of  this  building  will  contain  the 
Assembly  Hall  and  Chapel. 


We  are  delighted  to  hear  that  the  former  and  present  Hill  School  students  have  aroused  a special 
interest  in  the  Gymnasium  and  Club  Building  to  cost  about  $50,000.  We  feel  proud  of  such  hearty  co- 
operation and  wish  the  young  men  the  greatest  success.  The  alumni  both  of  the  old  college  and  of  the 
branch  could  establish  club  rooms  in  this  building  and  enjoy  the  benefits  of  athletics. 

With  the  main  college  in  Avondale,  the  present  building  on  Sycamore  Street  could  continue  to  be 
utilized  for  a High  School  branch,  for  the  flourishing  College  of  Commerce,  Accounts  and  Finance,  the 
College  of  Journalism  and  kindred  departments,  which  should  be  conducted  in  the  business  part  of  the  city. 

These  changes  require  money.  The  present  mortgage  debt  of  the  college,  $97,000,  was  incurred 
by  the  purchase  and  improvement  of  the  Avondale  Athletic  Club.  This  debt  will  be  reduced  by  the  com- 
plete sale  of  the  Gilbert  Avenue  property.  So  far,  out  of  the  twelve  lots,  five  have  been  sold.  It  is  not 
possible  to  accumulate  any  fund  under  ordinary  conditions,  as  the  expenses  are  about  equal  to  the  income. 
This  is  due  partly  to  the  low  tuition  fee  exacted,  but  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  every  year  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  deserving  young  men  are  educated  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  St.  Xavier  College  FREE  OF  ALL 
CHARGE. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  ST.  XAVIER  CHURCH,  in  its  finances,  is  entirely  distinct  from 
ST.  XAVIER  COLLEGE.  St.  Xavier  Church,  the  Parish  School  and  the  church  property,  belong  to  the 
archdiocese;  only  the  college  at  Seventh  and  Sycamore  Streets  and  the  Avondale  property  belong  to  the 
Jesuit  Fathers.  Tuition  fees  provide  the  main  income  of  the  college.  If  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  the 
teachers  of  the  faculty,  as  members  of  a religious  order,  serve  without  salaries,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
maintain  the  college  financially. 


WE  KNOW  that  you  are  interested  in  having  the  cause  of  Catholic  education  flourish; 

WE  KNOW  that  you  approve  the  grand  and  noble  work  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  our  midst  these 
seventy-five  years; 


WE  KNOW  that  you  endorse  their  splendid  policy  of  founding  scholarships  and  thus  giving  the  best 
Catholic  education  to  many  deserving  and  bright  but  indigent  young  men,  FREE  OF  ALL  CHARGE, 
and 

WE  HOPE  that  you  will  show  your  appreciation  by  helping  us  in  presenting  a fitting  testimonial  to 
OLD  ST.  XAVIER  on  her  Diamond  Jubliee  in  1915. 

Respectfully, 

Wm.  A.  Geoghegan, 

John  J.  Gilligan, 

Thomas  P.  Hart, 

Henry  J.  Heilker, 

Fred’k  E.  Mackentepe, 

Thomas  F.  Maher, 

P.  Lincoln  Mitchell, 

Alphonse  S.  Wetterer, 


Edward  J.  Babbitt, 
Joseph  Berning, 
William  A.  Byrne, 
Denis  F.  Cash, 

C.  Louis  Coffin, 
Richard  Crane, 

L.  F.  Enneking, 
William  E.  Fox, 


Edward  P.  Moulinier, 

F.  X.  Owens, 

John  H.  Rielag, 

Jas.  A.  Sebastiani, 

John  E.  Sullivan, 

Leo  J.  Van  Lahr, 

Joseph  B.  Verkamp, 

William  C.  Wolking,  Chairman. 
Oscar  J.  Dreyer,  Secretary. 
Walter  S.  Schmidt,  Treasurer. 

134  East  Fourth  Street. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  January  20,  1915. 


THE  NEW  ST.  XAVIER. 


OTHING  in  years  has  so  stirred  the  enthusiasm  of  St.  Xavier  men  as  the  purchase  by  the  College  of  the  former 
Avondale  Athletic  Club  property.  “A  new  life  for  old  St.  Xavier”  is  the  first  thought  of  every  alumnus. 


The  site  on  which  shall  rise  a greater  St.  Xavier,  is  a fine  tract  of  twenty-six  acres,  in  the  heart  of  Avon- 
’i^dale,  Cincinnati’s  most  beautiful  suburb.  The  property  lies  on  Dana  avenue  and  the  Winding  Way,  within 
a few  squares  of  numerous  car  lines,  and  equally  convenient  to  those  two  pulsing  arteries  of  travel,  the  Reading  road  and 
Montgomery  pike.  The  ground  itself  is  ideally  suited  to  college  purposes.  On  the  east  and  west  are  high  level  plateaus, 
between  which  extends  a broad  valley — one  of  nature’s  beauty  spots.  The  athletic  fields  are  in  the  base  of  the  valley — 
gridiron,  ball  diamonds,  swimming  pool,  tennis  courts — a campus  perfect. 


The  steep  hills,  covered  with  virgin  growth,  rise  on  each  side  of  the  athletic  fields,  forming  a natural  amphitheater. 
To  the  north  and  south,  through  the  generosity  of  the  Bragg  estate,  from  which  the  college  purchased,  the  city  has  acquired 
great  stretches  of  land  for  park  purposes.  (The  Park  Board  has  made  considerable  progress  in  building  one  of  the  Boulevards 
of  the  Bloody  Run  Park.)  For  many  miles  through  the  valley,  there  will  be  a double  boulevard,  each  branch  ninety  feet 
wide.  One  skirts  the  base  of  the  hill  immediately  east  of  the  athletic  fields,  the  other  runs  along  the  western  edge  of  the 
college  property,  occupying  the  location  of  what  is  now  the  Winding  Way.  The  new  St.  Xavier  will  thus  rise  in  a wild  and 
picturesque  spot,  surrounded  by  parkways,  yet  in  a location  which  was  chosen  first  because  it  was  the  very  center  of  Cin- 
cinnati and  its  suburbs. 


Skinkamp  & Bra 


Sleln^amp  & Bro..  Architects 


FACULTY  BUILDING 


THE  MAIN  BUILDING ACADEMY  AND  COLLEGE 


DORMITORY 


The  central  portion  of  this  will  contain  besides  offices  and  library,  an  auditorium  seating  one  thousand  and  a chapel  accommodating  about  the  same  number. 
The  south  wing  will  for  the  present  be  used  for  both  the  Academic  and  College  classes.  It  contains  class  rooms,  chemical,  physical  and  biological  lecture 
rooms  and  laboratories  accommodating  650  students. 

The  north  wing  will  be  used  for  the  Faculty  until  such  time  as  a separate  building  can  be  erected.  It  is  to  be  so  arranged  that  it  can  be  changed 
into  class  rooms,  similar  to  those  in  the  south  wing,  at  which  time  one  wing  will  be  used  for  College,  the  other  for  Academic  classes. 


The  Dormitory  is  intended  for  outside  students  who  will  live  in  a 
separate  building  in  attractive  private  rooms.  Board  will  be  furnished. 
The  situation  of  this  building  is  near  the  Gymnasium  and  the  Play- 
grounds. The  Dormitory  will  be  a real  home  for  students  who  can 
not  return  to  their  families  every  day.  Charges  will  be  moderate. 


The  Avondale  Athletic  Club,  to  whose  property  the  college  succeeds,  was  in  its  day,  one  of  the  city’s  most  exclusive 
and  successful  organizations.  The  club  was  formed  in  1 899.  The  club  home,  a large  and  attractive  brick  building  of  colonial 
design  was  the  scene  of  many  a festive  gathering.  Its  spacious  dance  and  banquet  halls  made  it  a popular  social  center. 

But  gaiety  has  given  place  to  serious  concerns:  for  the  dance  floor  has  been  divided  into  class  rooms,  and  the  banquet 
hall  converted  into  a chapel. 

For  the  future,  what  may  we  not  hope?  Medical  and  scientific  buildings,  an  arts  department,  a library— massive 
piles  rising  on  the  eastern  eminence— these  are  prospects  which  the  years  shall  realize.  Dangers  indeed  must  be  braved  in 
a launching  of  new  departments.  But  the  time  is  ripe;  the  support  of  St.  Xavier’s  loyal  sons  and  the  guidance  of  her  able 
rector,  who  already  has  done  so  much,  spells  sure  success.  May  that  not  be  a distant  day,  when  we  behold  old  St.  Xavier 
a university  in  very  truth. 

WALTER  S.  SCHMIDT.  ’05. 

In  the  “Xavier  Athenaeum.” 
March  1912. 


Slcin\amp  & Bro.,  Archilects. 


^EConD-FLooK-PiAn 


Steinl(amp  & Bro.,  Architects. 


Slcinkamp  & Bro..  Archilecls.  THE  GYMNASIUM. 

This  building,  75  x 125  feet  is  to  be  erected  at  the  southern  or  northern  end  of  the  campus.  It  is  to  contain  besides  the 
Gymnasium  proper  and  the  Basket  Ball  Court  the  plunge,  lockers,  offices,  billiard  room,  showers  in  addition  to  the  heating  plant. 


THE  IDEALS  OF  ST.  XAVIER  COLLEGE. 


T.  XAVIER  COLLEGE  stands  for  the  time- 
honored  and  well-tested  curriculum  which  de- 
velops all  the  faculties  of  the  mind  harmoniously. 
St.  Xavier  College  has  not  to  deplore  an  ill- 
advised  spirit  of  innovation  that  is  ever 
looking  for  new  branches  and  new  methods  and  takes  mere 
change  to  mean  improvement.  St.  Xavier  College  does  not 
reject  real  progress  in  education;  but  it  has  grown  strong  in 
the  conviction  that  the  classics  or  classical  studies  are — even 
in  the  twentieth  century — the  best  means  of  developing  the 
student’s  mind. 

The  College  Curriculum  in  its  entirety  comprehends  what 
is  called  secondary  education,  embracing  the  academic  (high 
school  or  preparatory)  department  and  the  college  proper. 

The  Academic  Department  consists  of  a four-year  course 
of  English  composition  and  Literature;  Latin  and  Greek 
with  the  reading  of  the  authors;  Algebra,  Geometry;  History, 
Sciences,  Civics,  Elocution  and  Physical  Culture.  The  sub- 
jects of  each  year  are  so  correlated  and  connected  as  both  to 
expand  and  draw  together  the  various  branches,  thus  se- 
curing in  each  year  a well-balanced  development  of  the  mind. 


and  adding  to  each  preceding  year  a well-rounded  intellectual 
progress. 

The  Collegiate  Department  or  the  College  Proper  is  erected 
upon  this  structure  of  the  Academic  Department.  It  is  uni- 
versally acknowledged  by  enlightened  educators  that  a college 
education,  culminating  in  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  is 
the  best  preparation  for  the  professions  and  the  higher  busi- 
ness pursuits.  While  some  few  universities  demand  the  degree 
of  Bachelor  of  Arts  as  a requirement  for  legal  and  medical 
studies,  and  while  some  medical  schools  prescribe  two  years 
of  college  and  the  low  requirement  of  a high  school 
preparation  is  still  held  sufficient  for  entrance  into  many  pro- 
fessional schools,  denominational  colleges,  like  St.  Xavier  have 
always  urged  their  students  not  to  attempt  professional 
courses  before  acquiring  that  culture  and  mind-training 
which  deserves  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  This  training 
is  obtained  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  classics,  not  by  the  hit- 
and-miss  methods  of  an  electivism  that  has  been  tried  and 
found  wanting.  That  this  policy  of  St.  Xavier  College  has 
met  with  full  appreciation  is  proved  by  the  large  number  of 
St.  Xavier  alumni,  who  have  obtained  their  Bachelor’s  and 


Master’s  degrees  which  have  paved  for  them  the  way  to 
success  in  their  subsequent  careers. 

Neither  is  it  impossible  for  the  students  to  devote  seven 
or  eight  years  to  the  combined  academic  and  college  depart- 
ments if  they  begin  their  secondary  studies  at  the  age  of 
twelve.  This  policy  is  strongly  advocated  all  over  the 
United  States. 

Si.  Xavier  College  stands  for  depth  and  strength  of  prin- 
ciples. Truth  is  not  an  ever-changing,  budding  and  blossom- 
ing and  decaying  of  things  material.  There  is  an  inflexible  and 
Immutable  standard  of  truth.  There  is  a well-established 
and  unchangeable  standard  of  ethics.  There  are  laws  of  our 
thinking  process  and  of  our  relations  to  the  Supreme  Being 
and  our  fellow-men  which  have  been  studied  by  the  master 
minds  of  pagan  and  Christian  times.  It  is  by  the  study  of 
mental  philosophy  that  the  mind,  avoiding  the  shallows 
and  dangers  of  changeable  modern  philosophies,  becomes 
anchored  to  the  rock  of  solid  principles.  The  student 
who  has  once  become  imbued  with  these  guiding  principles 
of  correct  reasoning  and  a correct  world-view  (Weltanschau- 
ung), possesses  a most  valuable  equipment  to  pursue  profes- 
sional studies  and  is  thereby  always  able  to  regain  his  bearings, 
even  under  a dark  and  overcast  sky  that  may,  at  times,  hide 


these  ever-shining  principles.  They  furnish  the  weapons 
wherewith  to  combat  modern  errors  that  threaten  to  destroy 
civil  government,  to  subvert  the  relations  between  capital 
and  labor  and  to  obliterate  the  brotherly  obligations  towards 
our  fellow-men.  Only  men  of  character  and  thought  can  be 
safe  leaders  in  society. 

St.  Xavier  College  stands  for  a strong,  unchangeable  and 
friendly  alliance  heticeen  religion  and  education.  An  education 
that  considers  only  mental  improvement  is  sadly  lacking  in 
proportion.  An  education  that  considers  only  the  immediate 
future  of  the  child  or  only  his  short  life  upon  earth  is 
criminally  unjust  to  its  charge.  For  some  of  these  youths  the 
earthly  career  is  finished  before  they  enter  upon  life’s  work. 
For  all,  there  is  another  and  infinitely  more  important  work 
to  be  accomplished,  the  consequences  of  which  are  unending. 
It  is  a criminal  and  cruel  injustice  to  offer  an  education  which 
leaves  out  the  most  essential  and  important  aim  of  life. 

St.  Xavier  College  stands,  therefore,  for  promoting  real 
happiness  by  teaching  and  inculcating  a morality,  which  is 
based  on  the  religion  established  by  Christ,  in  which  the  intel- 
lect is  enlightened  by  faith,  the  will  strengthened  by  grace,  the 
heart  ennobled  by  striving  after  God’s  own  perfection,  in 
which  all  the  faculties  of  soul  and  body  are  elevated  by 


divine  worship.  Students  who  are  not  Catholics  are  welcome, 
in  the  future  as  in  the  past,  if  they  are  willing  to  live  in  this 
atmosphere.  No  pressure  is  exerted  to  force  Catholic  views 
upon  them. 

St.  Xavier  College  stands  for  a proper  physical  development 
of  the  student  according  to  the  old  proverb,  "Mens  sana  in  corpore 
sano."  Always  bearing  in  mind  that  physical  culture  is  a 
means  to  an  end,  the  College  does  not  undervalue  the  importance 
of  a healthy  body,  yet  believes  at  the  same  time  that  the 
healthy  body  is  but  a dwelling  place  of  a noble  soul  that  must 
be  enriched  by  knowledge  and  virtue,  and  the  College  acts 
on  the  conviction  that  the  body  must  be  made  a ready  in- 
strument subservient  to  the  mastery  of  the  mind.  The 
newly-acquired  grounds  in  Avondale,  with  the  fresh  air  of 
the  suburb,  the  large  campus,  running  track,  gymnasium 
and  swimming  pool  offer  the  best  opportunities  for  healthy 
physical  exercise. 

St.  Xavier  College  stands  for  an  active  assertion  of  its 
influence  as  an  institution  of  learning  and  spreads  this  whole- 
some influence  by  the  alumni  for  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity. Though  it  disdains  the  noise  of  a constant  advertising 
campaign,  it  sends  forth  its  influence  through  the  community 
in  a spirit  of  charity  and  social  endeavor.  This  beneficent 


influence  is,  no  doubt,  communicated  by  all  who  ever  at- 
tended St.  Xavier.  Her  successful  and  influential  alumni  are 
found  in  the  ranks  of  the  Hierarchy  and  Clergy;  in  the  older 
profession  of  law,  medicine,  art  and  teaching;  in  the  new 
professions  of  accountancy,  engineering  and  journalism,  and 
in  all  the  various  business  occupations.  The  largest  number 
consists  of  classical  students.  Yet  not  a few  have  gone  forth 
from  the  Business  Department  which  St.  Xavier  has  at 
times  conducted.  If  there  is  a demand,  a High  School  of 
Commerce  may  be  established.  Meanwhile  the  College  of 
Commerce,  Accounts  and  Finance,  opened  in  October  1911, 
with  the  enthusiastic  co-operation  of  the  Alumni,  and  the 
College  of  Journalism,  opened  in  1912,  are  sending  forth  in 
their  graduates  and  students,  young  men,  who  are  directly 
prepared  for  the  higher  business  world  and,  as  their  com- 
mercial aspirations  are  tempered  by  the  correct  principles 
of  philosophy,  their  influence  in  business  circles  will  be  of 
the  greatest  value. 

St.  Xavier  College,  finally,  stands  out  as  an  evidence  and  a 
lasting  monument  of  that  generous  initiative  in  education  which 
is  so  characteristic  of  our  American  liberty.  Whilst  almost  in 
all  the  countries  of  Europe,  state  centralization  has  destroyed 
educational  initiative  on  the  part  of  private  corporations,  our 
American  republic  has  preserved  among  its  essential  liberties 


also  liberty  of  education.  Colleges,  like  St.  Xavier’s,  estab- 
lished by  generous  friends  of  education  and  conducted  by 
self-sacrificing  religious  educators,  have  performed  a magnifi- 
cent work  in  the  past,  and  always  will  appeal  to  those  parents 
who  believe  in  their  own  independence  and  their  inalienable 
right  to  elect  the  school  for  their  sons  and  daughters.  These 
parents  have  frequently  in  word,  and  more  so  in  deed,  ex- 
pressed their  appreciation  of  the  educational  work  conducted 
in  separate  schools  by  our  religious  educators.  Co-education 
has  never  been  favored  for  obvious  reasons.  The  parents  feel 
that  under  the  direction  of  the  religious  educators  the  full  co- 
operation of  the  teachers  is  secured,  and  that  the  faculty,  as 
they  are  in  duty  bound,  take  a strong  personal  interest  in  the 
progress  of  their  sons  and  daughters.  This  boon  of  education- 
al liberty,  granted  in  the  United  States,  is  a most  precious 


heritage,  which  the  parents  mean  to  maintain  and  strength- 
en. Far  from  being  un-American,  as  sometimes  stated,  this 
exercise  of  educational  liberty  is  essentially  patriotic. 

Not  only  the  faculty  and  students  of  St.  Xavier  College, 
but  the  City  of  Cincinnati,  with  its  surroundings,  may  look 
back  with  satisfaction  and  pride  upon  seventy-five  years  of 
unremitting  work  which  has  helped  to  mould  and  elevate  the 
minds  and  morals  of  so  many  of  their  citizens.  Any  successful 
development  in  the  future  cannot  help  being  a far-reaching 
and  beneficent  factor  towards  the  well-being  of  the  Queen 
City  and  its  inhabitants. 

As  in  the  past,  so  in  the  future,  St.  Xavier  College  will  be 
true  to  its  motto: 


Religioni  el  Artibus. 


jQQimL 


fOOTDMO. 


lOUT-DOOBI 
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